Adore

11

The soft jiggle of her doorknob, followed by a knock woke Anais up. She rubbed her eyes and let them adjust to the bright room, her bed felt oddly warm. Anais sat up and looked around the room, nothing looked out of place and her bed was empty. Other than a messy bedcover nothing was out of ordinary. Then she remembered. Oliver had spent the night. Anais sat up and in a panic stepped out of bed only to stubble over a pair of shoes. Oliver's shoes. She looked around the room once more, still no sign of the boy. Her face paled. He had to be somewhere, but where? Anais ran her fingers threw her hair as she rushed out of her room and over to the hallway bathroom. Still no sign of Oliver.
Anais gulped as she looked down the dark wood staircase. Downstairs was the only place left he could be. Her hands lightly shook and she grabbed on to the railing as she made her way down. The smell of burnt eggs filled her sense, her mother was in the kitchen. Anais first saw the dark tuff of her father's hair from his place at the table. Sat at the end with the chair to the right empty, her chair. She turned the corner as slow as she could, half expecting Oliver to be sat down there eating her mother's burnt bacon and chatting with her father about the local sport teams. Anais let out a sigh when she saw that non of the chair were filled with unexpected guests.
"How did you sleep?" Her mother questioned, her back facing her daughter.
"I slept ok" Anais said quickly before taking her seat next to her father, he hadn't looked up from the paper yet. The air in the room was hostile and she wished to retreat back to her room and away from her parents. She hated when they acted cold to one another.
"You were up late, yes?" Anais gulped away, did she know that Oliver had spent the night. Was she waiting to yell at her for being a disgrace. Anais nodded. She began to feel the nerves set back in, waiting for her mother to turn around all red faced and upset. Her mother let out a sign of her own before placing down the pan of burnt eggs on the counter.
"You shouldn't stay up late on a school night" The older woman said lightly before taking her seat as well. Anais nodded again and began to peel a banana from the fruit bowl, there's no way she could eat those eggs. burnt or not.
The room remained silent, neither her mother or father spoke. Only the sound of the page flipping after her father took in all the words was heard. Anais sat and ate her breakfast, starring off into space and trying not to think too much. Knowing Oliver he most likely woke up before her and crawled out the window before her father was even awake. He must have just forgotten his shoes when preforming the escape. She chucked lightly to herself, it was just such an Oliver thing to do. The small laugh caught her mothers attention, maybe because it was the first time she laughed in months or maybe because it broke the silence.
"Are you seeing him?" Her mother asked lightly looking up at her daughter, her eyes had a glossed look over them. Anais could see for the first time in a while, how her mother really felt. Empty.
Anais didn't know the answer to the question. She didn't consider Oliver to be her boyfriend, Anais didn't even know if she considered Oliver her friend. But he was defiantly something to her. Something special that she couldn't put a label on.
"No, mama" She replied just as softly, telling the truth, the complicated truth, wasn't going to get her any where. Lies would suffice.
"I never thought of you two being close before" Her mother started, her voice weak and sore sounding, "But I suppose it makes sense."
"Just promise me baby that you wouldn't get caught up with that family," Anais wanted to scream out for help. But it was too late. Anais was ok with spending the rest of her life with Oliver, he made her feel everything.
"I promise, we're just friends. I mentioned to him that I would have liked to live in the city" Anais lied, "It was just a silly idea."